Age Group Differences in Response to Repeated Exposure to Laboratory Stress Tasks

Abstract Research examining age differences in affect reactivity (i.e. how much affective experiences change in response to stressors) has produced mixed results, suggesting that there are areas of relative strength and weakness in regulatory processes across age-groups. The present study’s goals were to examine potential age-group differences in affect reactivity and subjective task-appraisals across repeated exposures to a psychosocial laboratory stressor. In the Health and Daily Experiences (HEADE) study, younger (18-35 years old; n=107) and older adults (60-90 years old; n=90) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test on three occasions in a laboratory setting over a five-day period. Current affective experiences and task-appraisals were assessed at each session using validated self-report scales, with current affective experiences measured at baseline and task periods to determine affect reactivity. Repeated measures ANOVA analyses were conducted to examine age-group differences in affect reactivity and task-appraisals across sessions. In support of our hypotheses, younger adults showed greater reductions in their negative affect reactivity over time compared to older adults [F(2, 390)= 8.18, p<.001]. Additionally, younger adults’ appraisals of task-difficulty decreased [F(2, 384)= 14.79, p<.001] and appraisals of task-performance increased [F(2,384)= 13.39, p<.001] across sessions, while older adults’ task-appraisals remained stable. Age-group differences in negative affect reactivity and task-difficulty appraisals were not evident for the first session and only emerged after repeated exposure to the stressors. These results highlight the importance of identifying age-related vulnerabilities in adapting to repeated stressors, with implications for designing effective interventions aimed at improving health and well-being for older adults.

objective of the present study was to determine if several types of elder abuse were related to an increased likelihood of negative psychological health.
Methods: Data were derived from the elder mistreatment in sheltered homes project, a cross-sectional study conducted in 2018 that included 446 older adults living in 43 sheltered homes.A face-to-face interview was carried out to complete structured questionnaires for participants to assess the psychological health effects of different subtypes of elder abuse.
Results: All subtypes of elder abuse were significantly associated with increased prevalence rates of depressive symptoms and sleep problems. Similarly, all subtypes except physical abuse were associated with higher rates of anxiety symptoms. In multivariate regression analysis, Older adults who reported physical mistreatment were three times more likely to experience suicidal ideation(OR=3.28, 95% CI=1.14 to 9.44), while no other subtypes were significantly associated with suicidal ideation.Older adults who report at least one type of abuse were eight times more likely to have depressive symptoms (OR=7.99, 95% CI=4.43 to 14.41), twice as likely to screen positive for anxiety symptoms(OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.20 to 3.49), three times more likely to have sleep problems (OR = 3.20, 95% (CI = 1.78 to 5.75). All subtypes of abuse were significantly associated with the presence of depressive symptoms, sleep problems, and anxiety symptoms except physical mistreatment.
Conclusion: Abuse is common among older adults living in sheltered homes and is associated with negative impacts on psychological health.

AGE DIFFERENCES IN AWE AMONG YOUNG, MIDDLE-AGED, AND OLDER ADULTS: EXTENSIONS OF SOCIOEMOTIONAL SELECTIVITY THEORY
Alexandria Ebert, Julie Hicks Patrick, Maya Huggins, Aradhita Yadava, and Sarah Collett, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States Increases in motivation for the pursuit of emotionally meaningful goals and activities as people age (socioemotional selectivity theory; SST) necessitates the investigation of means in which these goals and activities can be realized. In the present study adults (N = 130) aged 25 to 78 (M = 53.32; SD = 15.181) watched awe-inducing (view of space) and happiness-inducing (comedian Robin Williams interacting with Koko the "talking gorilla") videos and then completed measures associated with awe, affect, and well-being (measured via PGC Positive and Negative Affect Scales). Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine the effect of age (split by young, middle-aged, and older) on experiences of awe and positive affect in response to watching each video. There was a main effect of age on experiences of awe for both videos (ps < 05). Specifically, older adults experienced significantly higher levels of awe than young adults (p < .05) in response to video 1. They also experienced significantly higher levels of awe than young adults (p < .01) in response to video 2. Bivariate correlations among awe, well-being, and happiness were similar in strength and magnitude in each age group (ps < .05). Overall, consistent with Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, our findings suggest that affective reactions of awe and happiness, induced by videos, relate to well-being across age-groups. Future work should test whether the use of these awe-inducing videos can improve well-being.

AGE GROUP DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO REPEATED EXPOSURE TO LABORATORY STRESS TASKS James Miller, and Gloria Luong, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
Research examining age differences in affect reactivity (i.e. how much affective experiences change in response to stressors) has produced mixed results, suggesting that there are areas of relative strength and weakness in regulatory processes across age-groups. The present study's goals were to examine potential age-group differences in affect reactivity and subjective task-appraisals across repeated exposures to a psychosocial laboratory stressor. In the Health and Daily Experiences (HEADE) study, younger (18-35 years old; n=107) and older adults (60-90 years old; n=90) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test on three occasions in a laboratory setting over a five-day period. Current affective experiences and task-appraisals were assessed at each session using validated self-report scales, with current affective experiences measured at baseline and task periods to determine affect reactivity. Repeated measures ANOVA analyses were conducted to examine age-group differences in affect reactivity and task-appraisals across sessions. In support of our hypotheses, younger adults showed greater reductions in their negative affect reactivity over time compared to older adults [F(2, 390)= 8.18, p<.001]. Additionally, younger adults' appraisals of task-difficulty decreased [F(2, 384)= 14.79, p<.001] and appraisals of task-performance increased [F(2,384)= 13.39, p<.001] across sessions, while older adults' task-appraisals remained stable. Age-group differences in negative affect reactivity and task-difficulty appraisals were not evident for the first session and only emerged after repeated exposure to the stressors. These results highlight the importance of identifying age-related vulnerabilities in adapting to repeated stressors, with implications for designing effective interventions aimed at improving health and well-being for older adults. Alyssa Minton, Jason Snyder, Nathaniel Young, Verena Graupmann, and Joseph Mikels, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, United States Given that older adults value social harmony and selectively avoid negativity (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005), we investigated whether older and younger adults differentially react to scenarios in which someone intends to harm others compared to someone who accidentally harms others. Younger (n = 112, M = 26.23) and older (n = 113, M = 66.42) adults read 8 scenarios in which a perpetrator intentionally acts to harm someone else but is unsuccessful (Desire condition) or a perpetrator accidentally harms someone else (Consequence condition; Giner-Sorolla & Chapman, 2017). Endorsements